Over the past few years, YouTube has quietly been discriminating against conservative-leaning videos, thereby violating users' right to free speech. This week, PragerU decided to fight back by filing a lawsuit against YouTube claiming that the site unjustifiably slapped its videos with “restricted mode” or “demonetization” filters, violating its First Amendment right to free speech.
Google/YouTube seek to justify…[its] animus and bias [towards PragerU’s political identity and viewpoint] not by claiming that PragerU has violated YouTube’s restricted content guidelines or criteria, but by arguing that they retain unfettered discretion to censor any video content that they deem “inappropriate,” no matter how subjective, baseless, or arbitrary that decision is…For over one year, PragerU has worked patiently and cooperatively to try to resolve the censorship issues that comprise this Lawsuit. In response, Google/YouTube have provided vague, misleading, confusing, and often contradictory information that not only has prevented resolution of the issues, but constitutes further evidence and indicia that their restricted mode filtering applied to PragerU is based on Defendants’ [Google/YouTube’s] intentional discrimination and animus…
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The United States Supreme Court…recognized more than a half-century ago that the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution can apply even on privately owned property. One of the most important places to exchange and express views is cyberspace, particularly social media, where users engage in a wide array of protected First Amendment activity on any number of diverse topics.
Where, as in the case of Google/YouTube, a private party operates as one of the largest internet forums for speech and expression in the history of the world and such forum is accessible to and freely used by the public in general, there is nothing to distinguish it from any other forum except the fact that title to the property on which the forum exists belongs to a private corporation. As the highest court in the nation has made clear, ‘[t]he more an owner, for his advantage, opens up his property for use by the public in general, the more do his rights become circumscribed by the statutory and constitutional rights of those who use it.’
We're glad to see that a conservative group is finally standing up to YouTube!
This trend of censorship against conservative outlets has unfortunately become increasingly common in the United States. The left has made it clear that it is out to restrict the First Amendment rights of conservatives in order to give them as few platforms as possible to express their views. While leftwing users are free to spout whatever nonsense they want on YouTube, the video site has worked overtime to silence conservative voices.
The American left is constantly claiming that it is open-minded people, yet continues to be closed-minded towards any views that differ from its own. As a result, our country has become more divided than ever before, with leftists not even trying to understand the reasoning behind why so many people voted for Donald Trump. Sites like YouTube only deepen this divide by censoring conservatives. Now, more than ever, it is crucial that conservative voices are allowed to be heard!
What do you think about this lawsuit? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Plenty of people have already expressed their frustration with YouTube on every political side. There are countless videos that discuss this. There is no need for a court case that is a complete loser.
Yes because intelligent and educated people have never lost a court case before.
He will lose. Mark my words when there is an update to this.
Courts are available to settle disputes, and, this would be a great test case.
Show me ONE online business court case with full context, where someone was banned or censored in some fashion and they actually won in court with the website now forced to allow that person back on the website against their will and the censored posts (that broke company policy) were posted again on the site.
I never said they shouldn’t, but there is zero chance they will win – so if they want to waste money and a court case – have at it.
It’s like Roger Stone suing Twitter for getting banned – it’s completely ridiculous. What’s next – people suing The Rebel because they were banned?
Wrong. You did not read the article, did you?
" The United States Supreme Court …recognized more than a half-century ago that the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution can apply even on privately owned property. "
“‘[t]he more an owner, for his advantage, opens up his property for use by the public in general, the more do his rights become circumscribed by the statutory and constitutional rights of those who use it.’”
So it seems, Space Moose, that even the private companies who open themselves up to the public may indeed have to uphold the constitutional rights of all the people they serve.
Maurice Potvin,
Obviously it’s a human rights issues in that regard, since such bakers have lost in court. Turning away gay people is deemed to be no different than turning away black people, which businesses cannot do.
So if this is all about the court deciding, why not just let this play out in court and see how it goes?
That’s fair, but again everyone is complaining about YouTube – not just conservatives, so this lawsuit is ridiculous in that they are trying to make the case that it’s a conservative only problem and it’s not.
I would suspect said Liberals and Libertarians have been lumped in with the so called Alt Right by some censor hack, preferring easy censorship over actual investigation!
Liberals and Libertarians have had their videos demonetized and deleted too, if deemed too controversial. It hasn’t just been a conservative issue on YouTube.
Why do liberals have create all the cool stuff?
No one is stopping conservatives from starting their own Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, Google, etc.
Why don’t they do that instead of whining?
I do know the answer to this partially – as some conservatives have tried to start their own social media sites that gain zero traction, because they are boring as fuck and conservative = LAME in the internet age, so they keep using liberal creations and cry when they feel they are being censored.
Obviously it’s a human rights issues in that regard, since such bakers have lost in court. Turning away gay people is deemed to be no different than turning away black people, which businesses cannot do.
https:ylt=A0LEVxOZpQBa.mYAkSJXNyoA;ylu=X3o
And while you are at it, try Gab, social media. No censorship.
https://gab.ai/
Just copy and paste the links.
… However, win or lose, it is great that the desperate deceits of the Left are exposed. The Left are so stupid. Their dishonest attempts always backfire on them.
… Like Twitter shutting down Trump. The next day I subscribed to his feed.
No one has a right to post videos on their service. This a stupid lawsuit and they will lose.
… And no, groups such as the KKK are not right wing. They are collectivists, which is the foundation of the Left. Equally, calling someone “Climate Barbie” is not bullying or “violence”. It is cute and funny. Like labeling our PM Fool as Political Ken… is it bullying or “violence”? Of course not.
Keep in mind that this is the same guy who repeatedly claims that he never exaggerates.
I used to listen to Dennis Prgar. But I got sick of his same talking points said over and over again. The worst one being how people that were raised in a Judeo Christian setting are better people. And nobody forcefeeds as much advertisements on their audience as much as Prager. It is endless product placement and self promotion. Prager U. Pragertopia. Prager force. The guy needs to slap his name all over the place. And then he asks for money for the MAture American organization for conservatives and that stupid e-mail company.
I used to just skip all the ads. But then Prager made it so that you can only get the live stream, so the ads can not be skipped.
What a greedy prick.
I will gladly take a dump in that America toilet that he so loves to complain about.
There are a number of conservative news organizations that could be called as witnesses, like our REBEL